Acclaimed Australian composer Mary Finsterer has received substantial support that will help enable the creation of her new opera, Antarctica. An adjunct professor at the University of Tasmania, she was recently named its College of Arts, Law and Education Creative Fellow. Now, Finsterer’s Fellowship has been augmented by $500,000 in philanthropic support, helping to further her research and composition work over a five-year period.

Mary Finsterer. Photo supplied

The philanthropic gift has provided a foundation of support that will enable a unique opportunity for the composer to develop a five-year research schedule comprising a folio of works which includes the opera, Antarctica. “In economic terms, most people enjoy income security in relation to their work. This is not the case with composers, nor indeed in the wider arts community. This contribution equates to a .55 salary at a professorial level, and as such establishes a reliable basis on which to build. To my knowledge, this type of partnership between a patron of the arts and a university, established for the sole purpose of supporting a substantial body of compositional output, is a first in this country. The University of Tasmania is leading the way. It is my hope that this...